The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program. The new variety originated from a cross pollination of the seed parent, Guzmania lingulata×wittmackii with the pollen parent, a Vriesea of unknown species, performed by the inventor in 1999.
It was discovered by the inventor, Chester Skotak Jr., a citizen of Costa Rica, in Ajauela, Costa Rica during October 2001, in a group of seedlings resulting from the 1999 crossing.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar ‘Duraode’ was first performed in Belgium by tissue culture in October 2004. ‘Duraode’ has since produced several generations by micro-propagation and has shown that the unique features of this cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type.